Phony Toni Braxton

PARAMARIBO, Suriname: What was supposed to be a glamorous stage performance by six-time Grammy winning singer-songwriter Toni Braxton ended in a disastrous event in Suriname in the small hours of Saturday morning with angry patrons in the stands shouting for their money to be refunded.

Minutes after the artiste entered the stage in a packed Anthony Nesty Indoor Stadium, patrons realized that they were conned by show promoter Angel Ventura from ‘Events 4 Suriname’, an entertainment bureau operating here.

Security had to rescue US entertainer Trina Johnson, who was allegedly hired to do an imitation of Toni Braxton from the stage and whisked her away in a limousine. During her second song, people started throwing bottles and other missiles to the podium, while some were screaming that this was a hoax and a rip-off.

Subsequently, chaos broke out with angry patrons looting the bars in the stadium, while others rushed for the gates. Part of the stunned crowd just stood there in disbelief, looking at a by then empty stage.

“This is not happening; I can’t believe this,” a female patron said in disbelief, while her companion was tugging at her arm to leave the venue.

“At least this will compensate for my loss,” a man shouted running away from a bar where he grabbed two bottles of whiskey from the shelves.

Meanwhile, police have started a criminal investigation into the case, after scores of disgruntled patrons filed complaints alleging fraud, police spokesman under-inspector Humphrey Naarden said in an invited comment.

So far, no arrest has been made, since Angel Ventura, allegedly from the US Virgin Islands, and his assistant Signet Samson, disappeared after the concert, without paying several local sponsors, organizations, stage managers and artistes who performed support acts.

However, Trina Johnson was questioned by police, but since she could produce a contract stating that she would perform an imitation act she was subsequently released. Also, local assistants during the show were questioned. Tickets for the concert were sold for US$20 and US$25 while VIP-tickets were costing US$55.

Days before the concert people were already skeptical since there was no press conference as usual when popular entertainers arrive in Suriname. The organizer claimed that Toni Braxton was too tired from the flight to do interviews. During an interview, however, Trina Johnson, claiming to be Braxton’s manager, disclosed that the singer was very excited to perform in Suriname.

People were therefore shocked to witness Johnson performing the Toni Braxton act.

Meanwhile the concert has been dubbed the ‘Phony Toni’ show. The promotion campaign, including a TV ad portraying the real Toni Braxton saying that she is coming to Suriname, made people believe that the genuine R&B singer was coming to Paramaribo.

“This is a clear cut case of fraud,” said police spokesman Naarden.

Impersonating someone else with the intent to pilfer something, whether it is money, a good or service from another individual, according to Article 386 of the Surinamese Criminal Code is a criminal offense with a maximum jail term of three years.

Since several of the suspects are foreigners, border crossings would be alerted to be on the look-out. source

Rihanna Banned..!!

Islamic leaders in Malaysia are pressing ahead with calls to ban Rihanna (boo hoo) from performing in the country - just weeks after she promised to tone down her forthcoming live concert. The Malaysian government has strict rules when it comes to female performers, artists are required to cover up from their shoulders to their knees. The PAS has urged authorities who issue concert permits in the primarily Muslim country to reject the organizer’s application. (LINK)
source

Bajan signed to Motown.. damn

Barbados just keeps throwing them out. With Bajan songstresses Rihanna, Shontelle Layne and Livvi Franc signed to major recording labels within the last three years, buzz is that Hal Linton, a well-known artiste, has been signed to the legendary Motown Records.

Linton, a four-time winner at the Barbados Music Awards in 2007 for Song of the Year, Best New Artist, Songwriter of the Year and R&B Single of the Year, is signed to a five album deal with the label.

Even though many companies expressed interest in him, he eventually chose SRP Records, responsible for discovering Rihanna and Shontelle Layne, who are signed to Def Jam and Motown Universal Records respectively.

Doyle said Linton, who is also a writer and producer, tightened up his tracks before they began shopping him around to various labels. Sylvia Rhone, president of Motown, heard him, loved what she heard and arranged a showcase for which she invited the entire company, said Doyle. His sound, a cross between Marvin Gaye and John Legend, really impressed them, she said, and they asked to sign him. Damnnnn when will Guyana's artiste get this kind of opportunities, and I NOT talking about miss no talent Temeka, I talking about real talent like Jomo, Adrian, Celeste, Natural Black, Alabama and First Born. source

Beyonce at AMA

Okay, now y'all know I love me some Beyonce because she does her thing. So this video is dedicated to all those Guyanese women out there who are in a long term committed relationship and their men just can't seem to commit. You better check him with this song and let him know, you can get another man, in a wink of an eye. And we women know that is the damn truth... I keeping it real

Rhianna " U Make me Sick"

Pop star Rihanna performs on stage during the 2008 American Music Awards rehearsals held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. on Thursday in Los Angeles, California. The AMA's were last night, I wonder if our Guyana Music Accolades which will be held next sunday will stand up to it's hype.

Rhianna has a new song that has leaked onto the internet, " U Make Me Sick" is hot and I have to admit it will be the next chart topper. Listen to this song here . Y'all know I prefer me some Beyonce but I got to give Rhianna her props the little bitch is doing her shit and making that paper. source

AIDS patient Cured........

BERLIN - An American man who suffered from AIDS appears to have been cured of the disease 20 months after receiving a targeted bone marrow transplant normally used to fight leukemia, his doctors said.

While researchers — and the doctors themselves — caution that the case might be no more than a fluke, others say it may inspire a greater interest in gene therapy to fight the disease that claims 2 million lives each year. The virus has infected 33 million people worldwide.

Dr. Gero Huetter said Wednesday his 42-year-old patient, an American living in Berlin who was not identified, had been infected with the AIDS virus for more than a decade. But 20 months after undergoing a transplant of genetically selected bone marrow, he no longer shows signs of carrying the virus.

It has not come. Researchers at Berlin's Charite hospital and medical school say tests on his bone marrow, blood and other organ tissues have all been clean.

However, Dr. Andrew Badley, director of the HIV and immunology research lab at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said those tests have probably not been extensive enough.

"A lot more scrutiny from a lot of different biological samples would be required to say it's not present," Badley said.

This isn't the first time marrow transplants have been attempted for treating AIDS or HIV infection. In 1999, an article in the journal Medical Hypotheses reviewed the results of 32 attempts reported between 1982 and 1996. In two cases, HIV was apparently eradicated, the review reported.

Huetter's patient was under treatment at Charite for both AIDS and leukemia, which developed unrelated to HIV.

Before the transplant, the patient endured powerful drugs and radiation to kill off his own infected bone marrow cells and disable his immune system — a treatment fatal to between 20 and 30 percent of recipients.

David Roth, a professor of epidemiology and international public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said gene therapy as cheap and effective as current drug treatments is in very early stages of development.

Even for the patient in Berlin, the lack of a clear understanding of exactly why his AIDS has disappeared means his future is far from certain.

Source: By PATRICK McGROARTY, Associated Press Writer

Contaminated Eggs....

According to reports in the Guyana Times Newspaper "Guyanese consumers need not worry that the eggs purchased locally are tainted by melamine, since only a tiny portion of the eggs consumed are imported and Guyana does not import eggs from China." What a relief.... Oh my, did they say "ARE TAINTED". Yeah they did.

This assurance is coming from the Ministries of Health and Commerce in light of the recent discovery by Hong Kong food inspectors that eggs imported from northeast China are contaminated with high levels of melamine, the toxic industrial additive at the centre of the milk scandal in China. The discovery of contaminated eggs in Hong Kong was announced Saturday by the Center for Food Safety, a Hong Kong government agency, which said the eggs had been imported from a farm in the city of Dalian, in north- eastern China. The centre reported that the melamine level was almost double the legal limit for food sold in Hong Kong, according to a report in the New York Times. Oh Great .......

However, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, Health Minister, told Guyana Times that “ our eggs are safe and customers should not be alarmed by reports of tainted eggs in China.” He noted that Guyana is self- sufficient in terms of table eggs, but eggs are imported from the United States for the hatching of chicks.

Nevertheless, the ministry would also be monitoring the market to ensure that the highest standards are maintained. “ We will keep an eye out and monitor the situation to ensure it remains safe,” Minister Prashad said. The two major importers of hatching eggs in Guyana are Edens Hatchery and Bounty Farms. Mind you "I had me some Eden Eggs this morning."

According to the New York Times, the findings, reported over the weekend, have raised new concerns that a far wider array of China- produced foods than previously believed could be contaminated with melamine, which has already sickened more than 50,000 children in China and led to at least four deaths.

NOTICE:
Some of the contaminated milk products were found on the local market, but have since been recalled and customers are being urged to read all labels thoroughly before consumption. Among the product lines tainted are White Rabbit, Mr Brown, Milky Evaporated Milk, Country Maid Evaporated Milk and Polly Milk.

Obama vs Mc Cain (Dance Off)

I added this just for laughs, since even Guyanese getting in on the election action in the states. I saw last week a bus passing by with a big banner saying vote OBAMA. I don't know if the Bus driver thinks voting for Obama will make it easier for Guyanese to get into the US. Oh well it doesn't hurt to dream..

Unbelievable McCain Vs. Obama Dance-Off - Watch more Free Videos

Rhianna gets Award for " Catchiest Song Ever"

Rihanna achieves yet another major honor! Shit. This time her platinum-selling hit “Umbrella” was named catchiest tune of all time in a new survey. How major is that when you consider all the catchy tunes she had to compete with like “Ring the Alarm” or “Superman that Hoe”?

" RIHANNA’s hit song UMBRELLA has been named the catchiest song ever in a new survey.The song, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for seven weeks and the U.K. singles charts for ten weeks last summer (07), beat off stiff competition to take the title. Abba’s 1976 hit Dancing Queen came second in the poll, while YMCA by the Village People was awarded third place." boo hoo.

source: contact music

(Culture peek ) The Eunuch society

Neither man nor woman, a truly fascinating thing. Over a million people in India are classified as Eunuch or Hijras. They are considered the third sex in many parts of the world. A eunuch IPA: /ˈjuː.nək/) is a castrated man, in particular one castrated early enough to have major hormonal consequences; the term usually refers to those castrated in order to perform a specific social function, as was common in many societies of the past. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the twenty first century BC. They have performed a wide variety of functions in many different cultures such as courtiers domestics, treble singers, religious specialists, government officials, military commanders, and guardians of women or harem servants. In some translations of ancient texts, individuals identified as eunuchs seem to include men who were impotent with women, those we would now call transgender or homosexual and those who were simply celibate.

The English word eunuch is from the Greek eune ("bed") and ekhein ("to keep"), effectively "bed keeper." Servants or slaves were usually castrated in order to make them safer servants of a royal court where physical access to the ruler could wield great influence. Seemingly lowly domestic functions such as making the ruler's bed, bathing him, cutting his hair, carrying him in his litter or even relaying messages could in theory give a eunuch "the ruler's ear". Because their condition usually lowered their social status, they could also be easily replaced or killed without repercussion.


Sources: Wikipedia and Things Asian

Beyonce vs BC Jean

Not only in GT, they got thiefing and copy right battles - Beyonce is scheduled to release her double disc album titled “I Am.. Beyonce/I Am… Sasha Fierce” dropping on November 18. Beyonce also debuted her Sasha Fierce alter ego, who looks like a crack head with a very bad weave…She apparently coped this song from BC Jean to put on her album. I am sure she had to pay a hefty sum for the song. Have a look and a listen, choose which version you prefer.

Beyonce If I Were A Boy EXCLU
by babybee

Britney's new video

Just when we thought Britney was a total crack whore. She comes back and lands a chart topping hit called " Womanizer" .Britney Spears' new single Womanizer debuted at number 96 on the Billboard Hot 100 last week. This week the track zoomed all the way to number one (1) giving Spears her first Hot 100 chart topper in almost ten years.Not since her number one Billboard Hot 100 hit Baby One More Time in 1999 has Britney Spears scored another chart topper.
Womanizer is the latest single from Spears' sixth studio album Circus which is due on December 2.

Movado in NY club

For most of you , I know Lil Kim is not your cup of tea, no stress I have a snippet of Movado at the New York Club performing too. Below is a cut of the new song Caribbean Connection.

Bernie Mac (Didn't have AIDS)

Aight man, I know that we promised Caribbean and Guyanese news and gossip, however I know a lot of caribbean people knew or at least heard of Bernie Mac and appreciated his work. Since Saturday there has been speculation around Bernie Mac's death. I keep hearing Guyanese claiming he had AIDS. Oh lawd when anyone dies of Pneumonia or Tuberculosis, right away we saying they had AIDS. The man suffered from Sarcoidosis. According to Wikipedia, " Sarcoidosis is an immune system disorder characterized by non-caseating granulomas (small inflammatory nodules) that most commonly arises in young adults. The cause of the disease is still unknown. Virtually any organ can be affected; however, granulomas most often appear in the lungs or the lymph nodes. (hence, pneumonia) Symptoms can occasionally appear suddenly but usually appear gradually. The clinical course generally varies and ranges from asymptomatic disease to a debilitating chronic condition that may lead to death." For your viewing pleasure I've included one of his stand up shows, enjoy and have a laugh.